Decision
by Summer Memory
Summary: Zoro was ill and the last thing he wanted was to see his nakama suffer from his death. It would be better if he left. Nakamaship, A bit ZoLu in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer : One Piece and its characters belong to Eichiiro Oda-sensei. And, yes, it is a very wonderful series.

Hello, everybody! Uh, I come with a new multichaptered fic. I'll try to stick with nakamaship, but since I am a fan of ZoLu, I still can't avoid the interaction between them. But just as much as nakamaship, I hope :). I feel a bit down, now that I've discovered that my previous fics have so many gramatical errors in it --and several problems in real life, and I didn't have much confidence to write an English story again. But, then, here I am, still struggling to convert my imagination into writing shamelessly without care in the world. so please enjoy! :)

* * *

**DECISION**

The day was clear as the sun was shining brightly over Sunny as usual. The Strawhat Pirates were doing their own activities after lunch when a loud bang was heard from one side of the enormous ship.

"Oi, Usopp, what the hell are you doing now?" Sanji yelled when the explosion knocked him off balance and he nearly spilled the drinks for his precious Nami-swan and Robin-chwan.

Luffy shot out his head and grinned, "Sanji, you must see this! Usopp shot an isle and it vanished! See, see!" he pointed at the empty ocean where an isle once was.

"Hahaha, you shouldn't expect less from Usopp-sama, The Brave Warrior of the Sea! And have I told you how I defeat a sea butterfly bare-handed when I was five?"

"Ehh, really? Usopp, you are so cool! Tell us!"

"Well, it began with me sailing the Grand Line in search of my long lost brother when suddenly I saw a huge --bigger than Sunny, butterfly dive in the depth of the sea--" The liar continued his rambling, knowing that he had caught the youngest two member of Strawhats who gave him "ohh.." or "woahh.." every now and then.

Nami sweatdropped and rubbed her face softly, muttering "That doesn't even make sense." without bothering to look up from the map she had been doing since breaksfast. Robin merely stared at her amusedly, throwing a quick glance to chopper who squealing when Usopp had reached the part where he fought the doubtedly-exists-creature with his bare hands.

A certain green haired swordsman slowly opened his eyes, slightly annoyed with the all the commotion onboard, and an angry vein suddenly popped on his head,

"WOULD YOU ALL MIND SHUTTING THE HELL UP?!"

Sunny instantly fell deadly silent as eight pairs of eyes stared confusedly at the green-haired swordsman.

Zoro rubbed his forehead in annoyance as his head was throbbing painfully and the noises just made it worse. Without looking back to his nakama, he stormed into the men's cabin and slammed the door roughly. They faintly could hear him curse from inside, soon followed a heavy stomps on the floor.

"What's wrong with him?" Nami stared absently as she sipped the drink Sanji served and smiled at the pleasant taste on her tongue. "This is delicious, thank you, Sanji-kun."

"That's my duty to serve a beautiful lady like you, Nami-swaan! And don't worry about that moss head, maybe he's just getting his PMS." Sanji swooned as he did his noodle dance and his eyes turned into red hearts.

Chopper frowned slightly, furry eyebrows knitted together in deep thought. "But, Sanji, men don't get PMS."

The blond cook rolled his eyes amusedly at the innocent reindeer Doctor, "I know, Chopper. That was supposed to be sarcasm."

"Oh, I see." The little reindeer nodded thoughtfully when suddenly Luffy came in and cocked his head in confusion, "What's a PMS?"

* * *

Zoro opened his eyes with a low groan, looking around; he saw his crewmates have been sleeping already. That meant it was dark by now and he missed his dinner, again. Not that he was hungry, anyway.

Climbing down his hammock, he noticed the empty hammock that belonged to the cook. He grunted and made his way out of cabin. A glass of fresh water might help clearing his head up and if he was lucky, the blond boy might allow him a drink. The green-haired boy shivered as soon as the chill wind hit his bare skin and he swayed slightly, cursing colorful words when his head started throbbing again.

Sanji was cleaning the kitchen, as much as Zoro expected, and he raised his head as the swordsman made his entrance for his precious kitchen. "Hungry now, Marimo? There's some leftover in the fridge." he said without stopping to sweep the floor.

"Not really." Zoro replied gruffly and poured himself a glass of fresh water. He pulled a chair and sat on it as he watched Sanji continue sweeping, then finished off his drink in one gulp and gave a grateful sigh.

"What is it, Marimo?" Zoro raised his eyes when he saw Sanji take a seat before him and gave a bored look, "You surely did act strange today."

Zoro didn't answer and merely looked away, "Will…will it be okay if I leave thi crews?"

Sanji blinked, and then replied in confused tone, "What--?"

Zoro growled, "All of you.". There was a silence before the swordsman repeated, "Will ALL of you be ok if I leave?"

"Hell no." Sanji replied briefly, "What's gotten into you, to say such thing? No one's going to leave this ship, or, do you want to leave this crew so badly? Are we not good enough for you? For your dream? Do we get in the way?"

Zoro sighed, his mind started doubting if telling the cook was a good idea, "It's not like that. One day, we'll surely leave this crews eventually—"

"What are you trying to tell me? Spit it out!" Sanji stood and nearly shouted, hands shaking with anger and confusion, "What's wrong, Zoro?"

"Shut up and listen!" Zoro snapped back, not bothering to realize that his eternal rival had used his real name instead of his trademark silly names, "I—"

As if accompanying what the green-haired swordsman said, a violent wave rocked Sunny with a loud splash and the big ship swayed gently.

Sanji raised head in shock, his mind slowly registering what the young swordsman had just said, "What…? Come again?"

Zoro heaved a deep sigh and repeated hesitantly. "I'm ill, ero-cook." And he added, "Might die."

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Sanji yelled, not giving any damn if his voice would wake the others. He couldn't accept this, this was just ridiculous! If Zoro thought this was supposed to be a joke, then it was a really poor joke, and he wasn't laughing at all. "How could you say things like that—" he trailed off looking at the stoic face of the swordsman.

Just one look on the eyes was enough to answer everything, Zoro wasn't kidding.

At all.

After a long and heavy silence passed, Sanji inhaled deeply and tried to regain his composure, "Since when?"

"I don't know." Zoro leaned his back on the chair, "The symptom first appeared when we docked at the last island --that was about two months ago. I went to see a doctor there and…" he didn't finish his sentence but Sanji somewhat knew what happened next.

"So, even Chopper still doesn't know?" the cook lit a new cigarette, silently signaling that his frustration was growing even bigger.

Zoro absently nodded, "Yeah. He did notice my unusual habit, though, a bit fever and endless fatigue; but I refused when he wanted to examine me."

"So, you will die just because a doctor, a fucking lot less better doctor than Chopper said you would die? Heh, I thought you're not the one to do something just because someone tells you so?" Sanji laughed sarcastically and eyed the green-haired swordsman straight into those deep emerald orbs before him, "Why, Zoro? You are not planning to keep this forever, are you?"

The firstmate merely looked away and crossed his arms on his broad chest. "I don't know, Sanji. I don't fucking know."

"How about Luffy? Has he known yet?" Zoro's body abruptly tensed at the mention of his captain, the one he didn't really want to talk about now. Sanji saw his mate shake his head weakly, and heaved a deep sigh. "Tell him, Zoro."

"How?" Zoro gave a sarcastic smile, "How do you suppose me to tell him? You are not telling me to suddenly come to him and say 'Hi, Luffy. Sorry, I'm going to die. Bye.', are you?"

"Tell. Him."

"I asked you 'HOW'!!" Zoro pushed himself from the table and the chair fell onto the floor with a dull clatter, "How am I supposed to tell him? YOU tell me!!"

Sanji merely looked at the raging swordsman with an unreadable yet understanding look and blew the smoke from his lips slowly, thin ghostly substance travelled higher untill it finally disappeared. Zoro drew a breath and tried to regain his composure, pulling his chair again and buried his head in hands,

"How could I tell Luffy? How could I…say good bye to him?"

The blond cook got on his feet and approached the green-haired swordsman, putting one hand on his shoulder in a reassuring manner, "Luffy will understand." He looked out the circular window on a faraway side of the galley,

"He HAS to understand."

* * *

The next day came without much changes, hanging above was still the same warm sun; and the salty scent breeze was filling the surrounding air. Nothing drastic happened, save for Franky's happy cry when he saw an island in miles away from the crow nest and Nami said that they would reach it within two days.

Zoro still hadn't done any moves. He had a slight fever in the morning but still stubbornly refused to have Chopper checking on him, saying it was nothing. And even though Sanji hadn't said anything about the talk they had last night, he somehow always felt a wave of guilt washed over him every time their eyes accidentally met, and all he could do was look away.

"I'll tell him, cook. I promise." He growled lowly when the cook passed by him when serving drinks for the ladies. Sanji didn't give any replies.

Night fell quickly and after dinner, the crews climbed to their own beds/hammocks, feeling extremely tired from the previous activities along that day; save for Luffy who had his first shift of night watch.

Zoro was lying on his hammock, staring absently at the wooden ceiling. Rolling to his side, he tried to close his eyes but came with no avail.

He had to tell Luffy.

He really had to tell Luffy. Before it was too late. Before he died.

"Argh!" the green haired swordsman cursed to himself and jumped down from his hammock, landing flat on both feet with a slight sway.

Climbing up the crow nest, he saw dim sparkles in distance, reminding him that they weren't far way from land. He sighed, continuing climbing, and he found his captain falling asleep during his watch, as always.

Luffy's head was bent into an improper position and if it wasn't for his rubber fruit, the older boy was sure he would get a neck sore the next morning. Zoro approached him, and first intended to wake the smaller boy up, but then he sat next to him instead. He looked at Luffy for a second, frowning, and then shifted the rubber head into a more comfortable angle, earning a sleepy grunt from the boy.

Luffy, not very well-aware at the presence nearby, snuggled deeper into the older boy's warmth while the other merely smiled and held him tightly into his chest.

How was he supposed to tell him?

He looked down to the sleeping form, and snorted softly. Luffy was very important to him; the one he put his faith, loyalties, and promises; the one he had vowed to himself to protect with the risk of his own life, even Luffy wouldn't need it much, tough.

Zoro's mind snapped back into reality when he heard a soft whimper from the raven-haired boy. Luffy's body was trembling and shaking, and he was panting slightly as beads of sweat started forming right above his eyebrow.

A nightmare.

The older boy raised his hand to stroke the black bangs, much to soothe his captain down until his breath became soft and even again, signaling he had been drifted off to deep sleep once more. He raised an eyebrow and pulled the blanket up to the boy's chin so Luffy wouldn't catch a cold, not that he had seen him getting sick before.

Zoro caressed the pale cheek gently, as salty liquid started to blur his dark-green eyes until it was freely running down his cheeks. He didn't want to leave Luffy. For him, Luffy was everything, the only reason he'd been doing this all along. And if Zoro left him, then he would have nothing left.

The green haired swordsman gulped slightly and tried to force back his tears, his mind had been settled.

Tomorrow, he would leave.

* * *

Created : May 21, 2008  
Edited : August 2, 2008

See the date above? This one is an old story I came up with, a fairly long time ago and had been settling in my PC ever since, but I was too lazy to upload it. The English, and the grammar...Whatever --I've tried my best for that! So, hope you like it! please review and give me a constructive criticism or just to let me know if people actually reading this.


	2. Chapter 2

Boy, it's been ages, hasn't it (headdesk). . .

I'm so sorry that many things happened and I almost got no time to write anymore, ahaha. Besides, several new animes have caught my interests. So, I'm very very sorry for the long wait! Here is 'Decision' chapter 2!  
Please enjoy! :))

Disclaimer : One Piece and its characters belong to Oda-sensei. This is a mere fanwork that is intended only for entertainment only ^^

Summary : Things change, times fly, memories fade…loves die. ZoroXLuffy, may contains SanjiXLuffy in the future. Shonen-ai.

Genre : Angst/Tragedy, Rating : T just to be safe

**DECISION**

2nd installment

Several hours after lunchtime, The Strawhat Pirates finally docked in a beautiful autumn island. The island was covered almost in all red and yellow, just much like autumn season, but in contrast the weather was warm even with the minimum sunlight. In honor of the beauty of the island's nature, people there named it Red Fall.

Strawhat Pirates immediately gathered on the deck, wanting to explore such beautiful island and to re-stock whatever they had spent in almost three months period of time in middle the vast ocean.

"Don't spend too much money and get back here at dinner, get it?" Nami clapped her hands together after having finished distributing the groceries lists and the money for the crews, 5000 Bellies for each.

"Okay! Zoro, you don't have anything to do, right?" Luffy turned to his firstmate, grinning widely, and grabbed him even before the green haired swordsman could answer. "Let's go adventuring!"

Zoro almost fell over as his captain dragged him, but quickly regained his balance and yanked the smaller boy back, "Uhh…Luffy?"

"Yes?" the young captain chirped, facing his firstmate, and his smile turned into a frown, "Zoro, you're warm. Chopper-!"

"No, listen, Luffy!" he pulled the boy closer and took a deep breath before finally said, "I'm leaving."

Luffy cocked his head to side, as if reassuring himself that he'd heard the right thing. "Where to?" he asked, fully aware of what the older boy had just said, but simply refusing to accept.

"I'm serious, Luffy." Zoro merely looked away to avoid his captain confused look, "I'm quitting from this crew."

Those words were said with an icy cold tone and succeeded silencing the whole crews for minutes, letting only the splash of waves and the cries of seagulls to fill the disturbing silence.

Zoro had been full aware of what those words meant, and he actually had prepared himself for this moment since the night before, but it still hurt to actually say it. To say to them, his only family, that he wouldn't be no longer be there with them. The green haired swordsman exhaled deeply to regain his composure and walked away, "That's it. I'm going."

That wasn't even worth to be considered as a 'good bye', he thought bitterly.

"Wait, Zoro!" the marksman was the first to recover from his shock, "You were kidding, right? There's no way you would leave this crew, you did'nt mean it, did you? TELL ME YOU DIDN'T MEAN IT!" Usopp shouted, his voice threatening to break. He had once betrayed the crews, even dueling with his captain, and as if it wasn't enough to leave a traumatic scar to them, now it was Zoro, the first mate, who was going to leave.

"There's no use, Usopp. Just let this brainless moss do as he pleases." Sanji cut off, plucking his cigarette out, and walked to the space between the swordsman and his captain. "If you really want to leave _that_ badly, just do it now, COWARD!"

Zoro flinched at the words Sanji had just mouthed and eyed him dangerously. He did get the message, clearly_. 'Haven't told Luffy yet, have you?' _

"Stop it! Zoro, this is ridiculous!" Nami yelled, eyes filled with unshed tears. Why did they have to go through this again? Was incident with Usopp in the past still not enough to scar their group?

"Zoro!" Chopper was beginning to cry as he clutched his hooves at Usopp's pants, as if afraid that the marksman also would leave them for the second time.

Zoro closed his eyes in confusion and frustration at his name being called over and over, when suddenly Luffy walked out. "I'm going." The black haired boy stated flatly and stretched his hands out, preparing to catapult himself.

"Luffy!" Nami looked at her captain in shock. Wasn't he aware of what was happening to his own crew?

"As Nami said, everyone should be back at dinner." He added, as if ignoring the call his navigator had addressed to him.

The green haired swordsman was stunned, eyes widening in confusion and his head started throbbing again. "Do…Don't you want to ask why?" he asked in a low tone, not sure if he wanted his captain to answer his question.

"If I ask, will you stay?" Luffy questioned back, not even bothering to look at his firstmate, "Would it make you change your decision?"

Zoro hesitated for a second, and then replied, "No."

"Then, I won't." And with that, the black haired captain rocketed himself with a sound of swirling, leaving an empty space where he had been just a second ago.

Zoro let out breath he unknowingly had been holding, and turn around, only to barely miss a powerful kick from a certain blond cook. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled as he took several steps back, eyes filled with dark rage and betrayal.

"It is _me_ who should be asking, you—" Sanji spun on one foot and landed his soled-shoes on the other boy's chest, "-PATHETIC IDIOT!"

"Stop it, Sanji! Zoro!" Chopper cried in no avail, tears streaming down his furry cheeks, but was completely ignored by both boys.

"You stupid asshole!" Zoro unsheathed his katana, placing wadou between his teeth;and he charged forward, "If I don't do this, I will just hurt Luffy more!"

Nami closed his mouth with her hands to prevent herself from crying. She had never seen them fighting like that, she could see in their eyes that they were no longer seeing each other as a nakama to protect but as an enemy that had to be killed. "Enough…enough! STOP IT!"

She was scared, they all were scared. A pair of hand suddenly grabbed her by the waist, preventing her to burst in the fight. She turned her head to see Robin shaking her head softly.

Robin, as much as the rest of the crew, was also extremely confused. But, considering that trying to stop both boys from their fight was also dangerous, so she decided that waiting was the best option for now.

"You are hurting him NOW! You fucker!" Sanji barely missed the green haired swordsman's deadly swing and did a swift side kick, "Why don't you just tell him the truth?"

Zoro bent down to avoid the attack, and spun to block a kick aimed to his side with his katana, earning a dull clatter ringing on the air. Seeing a gap in the cook's loosened defense, he immediately counterattacked him with another lethal blow. Unfortunately for Sanji, he was a split-second too late to realize that Zoro was charging straight to him. The next thing he knew was, he was struck with a brutal force and he landed hard on his back; a sharpened katana aiming on his throat.

"Go kill me, if that can satisfy your bloodlust!" Sanji shouted, and stared at the swordsman blindly. "Luffy believes in you so much! He relies on you the most than any of us. Why can't you see that?"

Sheathing back his katana, Zoro replied in a confused, uncertain tone, "I can't, stupid-cook.". He even forgot how to spat, and used a low tone instead.

"Yes the hell you can, you just refuse to!" Sanji looked at the firtsmate, "Tell him, idiot! Don't hurt him more."

There was a long silence before the green haired swordsman looked away, and finally said, "Will he…will he forgive me?"

Sanji blinked, then gave him a relieved smirk, "Hell, yeah. He's Luffy, after all"

Zoro reached out a hand to help the blond cook to stand when suddenly a loud explosion came from a faraway side of Red Fall Island, soon followed by a faint cry of "Gomu-Gomu no Rocket!"

All members of The Strawhat Pirates exchanged their glance with, surprisingly, equal horrified expressions and cried in unison, "Luffy!"

* * *

gah, I'm sorry it's so short it isn't worth for the long wait. I'll try to upload the nest chapter as soon as I can.  
Thank you for reading, and reviews are always greatly appreciated! :))


End file.
